Chelan County Clerk’s office closed to counter traffic until Friday

WENATCHEE - The walk-up counter at the Chelan County Clerk’s Office is closed for normal business until Friday, Nov. 22, so staff can begin processing any paperwork that was put on hold because of the recent statewide outage of the Washington Courts computer systems.

Earlier this month, the state detected unauthorized activity on Washington’s Administrative Office of the Courts network. The system was taken offline on Nov. 4, disrupting daily operations at superior courts, county clerks’ offices and district courts across the state. All have been unable to reach any state court webpages since that time.

The system came back online Monday, Nov. 18. 

“A closure of our lobby until Friday will give us some time to catch up with the work we have been unable to do for two weeks,” Chelan County Clerk Marty Young said. “In that time, the office clerks will enter every filing and financial transaction since the outage began.”

From Monday through Thursday, only customers who seek a protection order or who have an appointment to get a passport will be served in the Clerk’s Office lobby. All other customers are asked to use the mailbox outside of the door to drop off any filings. Clerks will be processing any paperwork that comes in via the drop box and the U.S. mail in addition to the work they have been unable to do for the past two weeks.